Friday, 21 June 2002

Week , June 21, 2002

There is something
totally charming and delightful about Week by Platform Youth Theatre. A cast of
twenty-three aged 16 to 25, write perform, a show based on one week in their
lives.

The result is a
series of vignettes ranging from one to five minutes. Each has a different
voice but all reflect the ordinary, the surprising, the intimate or tragic
moments that may occur in anyone's week.

Dramaturg, Patricia
Cornelius developed script
material from journals kept for the project by each participant. Director,
Susie Dee, creates an evocative
space on stage using virtually only the bodies and voices of the young cast.

The entire 80
minutes is staged on a set resembling a train platform, (Adrienne Chisholm). In this promenade stage, the audience sits on one side only of the long
space while the actors face us, seated in a uniform line of chairs on the
platform.

Dee brings an
imaginative vision to the work. Individuals or small groups peel off from the
seated line and perform scenes. Another layer is added to the vignettes by the
choreographed movements and vocal interjections of the seated ensemble.

They sit still as if
a backdrop to the action. Then they shift positions subtly, pose, echo the
dialogue or simply react to the scene.

A trio drives to the
country for a camping trip. A young woman tries to find the woman who adopted
her dog. A man decides to start a quiet, 'nice guy' revolution in society. On a
train, various people suffer, chat, eat or pretend to be what they are not.

Two sisters from Sarajevo argue about forgetting their previous lives.
Four teenage girls go clubbing, talk about fatness and look for love. Two girls
diarise their boring Sunday at home or working in a supermarket.

These snapshots of
lives are variously moving, funny or insightful. What makes this show work, is
the unaffected quality of these young community actors. The professionals who
worked on this show - Dee, Cornelius, and others - create a safe environment for
the young people to develop and refine their ideas and present them to an
audience.

The strange and
accidental juxtaposition of images and stories adds another dimension. Chris
Lewis's sound design and Gina
Gascoigne's lighting enhance the
atmosphere created by Susie Dee.